Swimming pool safety apparatus and method



Feb. 14, 1961 E. B. COOKMAN SWIMMING POOL SAFETY APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Jan. 7, 1959 INVENTOR. ERLO B. COOKMAN United States Patent SWIIVIMING POOL SAFETY APPARATUS AND METHOD Erlo B. Cookman, 5364 W. Streetsboro Road, West Richfield, Ohio Filed Jan. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 785,370

4 Claims. (Cl. 4-172) This invention relates, as indicated, to a pool or pool area secured against accidental drowning and the method for securing the same. More particularly, this invention provides a means for making swimming pools or swimming areas safe during periods of non-use.

Recent advances in methods of construction of swimming pools coupled with generally prosperous conditions have resulted in widespread installation of these amusement devices on private residential property. The obligations upon the owners of swimming pools, both moral and legal, to secure the same against accidental drowning, particularly during periods of non-use, for example during the night season, increase as the installation of such devices continues. Adequate insurance is a poor substitute for the life of the youthful trespasser attracted to the waters edge.

It is a principal object of this invention, therefore, to provide a means for securing a pool at the point where insurance policies and ordinance-required fences have failed to serve their purpose, i.e., a safety device on the surface of the water.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, the following description and annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but a few of the various forms in which the principle of this invention may be employed.

Broadly stated, therefore, this invention is in the provision of a pool having peripheral sides for confining water therein, a plurality of spaced apart buoyant rings having spacer members attached thereto and in alternating relationship therewith, defining an inner floating pcriphery, and means for anchoring said inner periphery to the sides of said pool. This invention also contemplates the method of securing a swimming pool which comprises floating an inner periphery composed of alterna-ting buoyant rings and spacer members adjacent to the sides of the pool, and anchoring the inner periphery to the sides at a plurality of points to maintain the inner periphery in adjacent relationship to the sides of the pool.

In the annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a swimming pool secured in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 shows a buoyant ring and spacer members in accordance with this invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, there is here shown a swimming pool generally indicated at 1, of rectangular configuration, having peripheral sides 2, 3, 4 and 5 for confining a body of water therein. There is also provided an inner periphery 6 which is composed of a plurality of buoyant rings 7 spaced apart from next adjacent rings 7 by spacer members 8 afiixed thereto.

At suitable points about peripheral walls 2, 3, 4

and 5, means for anchoring the inner periphery 6 to said peripheral walls 2, 3, 4 and 5, are provided, and include, for example, a rope 10 attached to an appropriate buoyant ring 7 and to an adjacent wall 2, 3, 4 or 5, as the case may be. As shown, the ropes 10 secured to parallel side walls extend in opposite directions holding the rings and spacers in alignment, and the ropes attached to the walls 2 and 4 extend transversely to those attached to the walls 3 and 5.

Fig. 2 shows in greater detail the construction of a portion of the inner periphery 6 of Fig. 1. There is here provided a buoyant ring 7 and a tubular spacer member 8 affixed to said buoyant ring 7 and the next adjacent buoyant ring 7. The spacer 8 may conveniently be a hollow tube open at both ends having a loop of rope 11 passing therethrough and encircling each of the adjacent rings 7 to retain the same against lateral displace ment, and at the same time allow for sufiicient flexibility of the assembly to float on the surface of the water of the pool 1. Any suitable means of securing the spacer members 8 to the buoyant rings 7 may, of course, be used without departing from the spirit of this invention. Spacer members 8 may be rigid or flexible as may be desired.

The buoyant rings 7 may be composed of any buoyant material. It has been found most convenient, however, to construct the buoyant rings 7 by extrusion of a thermoplastic material such as polyvinyl chloride. It is possible to extrude tubular sections of arcuate configuration and heat weld segments or lengths to form circular members 7. It is not necessary that the buoyant ring 7 be hollow, although this is a convenient embodiment, and thus to secure side wall rigidity the hollow ring 7 may be filled prior to heat welding the ends, for example, with light weight rigidity-enhancing material, such as foam rubber, or the so-called foamed in place isocyanate resinous materials. The spacer members 3 may also be made of polyvinyl chloride, and, as indicated above, may be open ended or closed. Usually straight tubular sections 24" long x /1" ID. are used for spacer members 8.

The rings 7 are conveniently of different diameters for purposes of packing. For example, a set of three rings may have internal diameters of 42 inches, 36 inches, and 30 inches, respectively, so that the series of three rings may be nested one within the other, assuming a three inch tube diameter. Flexible attachment of the rings by means of the spacer members also allows for devices of this sort to be placed in pools of irregular peripheral shape, e.g., the kidney-shaped pool. Anchoring of the inner periphery 6 to the peripheral sides of the pool is conveniently accompished by means of ropes affixed to the buoyant rings 7 and to cleats, for example, bedded into the peripheral walls of the pool. It is not necessary that each buoyant ring be so anchored to the peripheral walls of the pool, and in the usual case, only selected buoyant rings 7 are so anchored to the pool wall. In the case of the rectangular pool, as shown in Fig. 1, the corner buoyant rings 7 are the only rings anchored to the peripheral walls 2, 3, 4 and 5, the remaining buoyant rings 7 being maintained in adjacent relationship to the peripheral walls by means of the spacer members 8. A substantial cord, e.g., approximately A cord, is conveniently used for lashing the rings 7 and for anchoring to the peripheral walls.

During periods of non-use, then, the inner periphery 6 composed of buoyant rings 7 spaced apart by spacers 8, said inner periphery being anchored to the peripheral walls at'suitable points may be installed to provide a floating safety device which will minimize the chances of accidental submersion, and also provide a buoyant member which can be easily grasped by a person who has accidentally fallen into the pool. While the pool is in use, the inner periphery 6, is easily removed by detaching the anchoring ropes 10 from the peripheral Walls 2, 3, 4 and 5, and removing the inner periphery from the pool. Moreover, if desired, various sections or even the buoyant rings themselves may be detached from spacer members 8 and used as amusement devices in the pool as well as safety devices. The area defined by the inner periphery 6 may, ifdesired, be filled in with additional rings 7 and spacers 8 to provide a floating area securing the entire surface of the pool.

Other modes of applying the, principle of this invention may be employed instead of those specifically set forth above, changes being made as regards the details herein disclosed, provided the elements set forth in any oi the following claims, or the equivalent of such be employed.

I claim:

1. A pool having first opposite side walls and second opposite side walls transverse to the first for confining water therein, a plurality of spaced apart buoyant rings having spacer members attached thereto with flexible connecting means and in alternating relationship therewith, defining an inner floating periphery, first tie lines extending in opposite directions securing opposite sides of the inner periphery to said first opposite side walls and second tie lines extending in opposite directions transverse to the first tie lines securing the inner periphery to said second opposite side walls and maintaining the flexible connector means and spacers sub.- stantially in alignment.

2. The method of securing a swimming pool having side walls for confining water therein which comprises floating an inner periphery composed of alternating buoyant rings and spacer members attached thereto adjacent said side walls, and tying said inner periphery outwardly in transverse directions to said side walls at a plurality of points to maintain said inner periphery in adjacent relationship to said sides and the rings and spacer members in alignment.

3. A peripheral protector for swimming pools having end and side walls, the protector comprising a plurality of buoyant rings arranged substantially in oblong configuration, adjacent rings being connected by flexible lines with tubular spacers surrounding each of said connecting lines, the buoyant rings including corner rings and tie lines extending transversely from each of the corner rings for securing the protector to and adjacent side walls and end walls of the pool with rings, spacers and connecting lines in alignment.

4. A collapsible and portable swimming pool protector as in claim 3, wherein the rings are of a plurality of different diameters differing by twice the radial thicknesses of the rings, whereby the rings may be compactly nested for transportation and storage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,727,902 Reno Sept. 10, 1929 2,870,455 Reeves Jan. 27, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 450,406 Great Britain July 16, 1936 817,778 France May 31', 1937 

